


Not what she was expecting

by Daydreamisallihave



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Frank goes to check on Karen after Matt's death, Hurt/Comfort, Short One Shot, just conversations and what no, kastle - Freeform, missing scene between The Defenders and The Punisher, they haven't realized their feelings yet but they are on the way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 12:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13271709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreamisallihave/pseuds/Daydreamisallihave
Summary: Karen is mourning Matt when someone knocks at her door. She would have expected anyone but the Punisher coming to comfort her.No, I can't think of titles.





	Not what she was expecting

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I wanted a scene of Karen and Frank between The Defenders and The Punisher, in which they talked before that first time she met him on the street, so I wrote this. As always, my fic is me self-indulging in fantasies and scenes I have in my head and writing them hoping any of you may like it too.
> 
> Apologies for my English, I always try my best but it's not my first language so probably there are mistakes.  
> Apologies too if Karen and Frank seem ooc to you, I try m best but it's not easy for me.
> 
> I hope some of you may like him, please be kind if you don't.

It was late enough for Karen to take her gun with her when she went to answer the door. A knock past midnight when she wasn’t expecting anyone was unusual and worrying even for her.

For a wild second, she thought that it might be Matt, coming to say that ey, he was actually alive. But she knew better, his new vigilante partners had seen it. He was lying cold somewhere under thousands of bricks.

What she saw through the peephole surprised her almost as much, though. Frank Castle was standing at her door.

Karen hadn’t seen him in months, since that day he was on the rooftop, shooting at whoever Daredevil’s enemies were. There had been some murder reports she had done in which she saw Frank’s seal, but she hadn’t caught sight of him.

Yet, there he was.

“Ma’am.” Frank greeted when she opened the door, eyeing her pistol with which seemed more approval than concern.

“Frank.” Confusion was clear in her voice, and he seemed just as awkward. “Frank,” she repeated. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to offer my condolences, I guess.” He finally replied, visibly uncomfortable. “I...I read about Murdock. I’m sorry.”

“Oh...” Not what she was expecting. Not that she knew what was she expecting. “Thank you? I mean...” She sighed tiredly. “Do you want to come in or something?”

“If that’s okay with you...” Frank seemed unsure but stepped inside when Karen nodded. He just stood there, next to the door without saying anything else.

“Sit down.” Karen gestured to the sofa, more a command than a suggestion. She wasn’t in the mood to have The Punisher awkwardly standing in her living room while he tried to give his condolences or whatever he wanted to do.  Sometimes her life was too surreal even for her.

She went to the kitchen and took the bottle of whiskey she hadn’t bothered on putting back on the cupboard.

“Do you want some?” She gesture with the bottle towards Frank, who had actually sit down, and took two shot glasses when he nodded. She placed everything on the coffee table, next to her still opened laptop, the story in which she had been working on the screen. She shut it off before sitting at the opposite end of the sofa.

“So you read it in the paper.” Karen filled the two glasses and gulped down hers, sitting back on the sofa bottle in hand.

“Yeah. I’ve been out of the city and it seems a lot of shit has gone on while I wasn’t here. “ Frank replied. “And I even wasn’t out for that long.”

“Were you hunting?” Karen asked, and he nodded. Of course she was right, not rest for Frank until he had killed everyone involved in the murder of his family. She knew.

There was a moment of silence until Karen began talking again.

“You know, they didn’t find his body. And that’s bad not only because we can’t really bury it in his grave but because...it doesn’t feel totally real...I just...I feel he’s going to show up at any moment. Even though I know he’s dead, and that well, he’s actually is buried ... under that collapsed building...” Her voice broke and she poured herself another glass, drinking the shot in one go.

“You knew who he was?” She questioned.

“Yeah...” Frank replied, finally drinking his own shot. “Not my place to tell you, though...”

Karen shrugged.  She guessed he was right, but at that moment everything hurt too much.

“We met as Daredevil and The Punisher, in the rooftops. He kicked my ass, you know.” Frank kept going. “But not as much as I kicked his, of course.”

“Sure...” Karen huffed but she realized she was almost smiling. Frank had half a smile as he looked at her and Karen realized that it was what he was trying to do, to make her smile, to make her feel a tiny bit better. That man was an enigma.

“Anyway, I think he was a good guy, I think he was fighting for what he thought was right, he wanted to help.” Karen nodded at Frank’s words, blinking quickly when she felt tears threatening to fall down her eyes. “Although I’m not going to lie, most times he was a pain in the ass and I couldn’t stand him.”

Karen chuckled at that, a heartbroken laugh, tears definitely falling down her eyes. Frank graciously didn’t comment on it, silently giving her time to recover.

“He seemed to have that effect on people lately, yeah.” She nodded with a sad smile. “And I know he meant well, and I know he helped people. But also I knew being daredevil was going to cost him his life, I told him that much, and see, turns out I was right.”

She drank another shot but didn’t resist when Frank carefully took the bottle from her hand, placing it on the table.

“He did what he needed to do. Just like I do.” Frank shrugged.

“So what, are you defending him because you are vigilante buddies or what.” Karen knew she was being rude, that she was lashing out against Frank out of spite, but she was just too bitter, too brokenhearted, and the alcohol didn’t seem to be helping.

“What?” Frank seemed almost offended. “What are you saying? I’m not a vigilante. I’m nobody's buddy”

“Yes, I guessed that much.” Karen grumbled. “And yes, he helped people and everyone should thank him, me first, he saved my life, you knew that?” Frank shook his head but said nothing, letting her talk. “But what about the people he is hurting? And I’m not talking about the bad people but us, the people who loved him. He’s dead and everything is over for him, but we are here, hurting and I just...”

Karen was a sobbing mess by then. She didn’t know why she was telling Frank all that, but words just kept coming out of her mouth and she couldn’t stop.

“He’s gone but we are here, mourning him and...You should know how that is, you should know...” Karen babbles stopped when she heard Frank take a deep breath. She hadn’t meant to say that, not like that, she knew she had hurt him. She knew what he had gone through. “God, Frank, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...that wasn’t okay...god, sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” He didn’t sound mad, he actually sounded comforting. “Just talk ma’am, let it all out.”

Karen looked at him. She didn’t know what was he doing there, why was he doing that for her, she didn’t understand it. But there he was, Frank Castle The Big Bad Punisher gently shushing at her. Well, she wasn’t about to complain. It was actually quite, weirdly, comforting.

“I feel bad, Frank. Because I’m sad he’s gone, I am. I’m heartbroken. But I’m also, so, so angry.” She confessed. “I knew  it was going to end this way, I knew, I told him to stop...”

Karen knew she was crying again, in front of Frank, but somehow she didn’t feel embarrassed. Frank reached out to take her hand but stopped when he seemed to catch himself. Karen didn’t let him pull away though, taking his hand in hers. She needed it. Frank didn’t pull away again and he gave her a tiny, reassuring squeeze.

“But the thing I’m most angry about is that he lied to me, he lied so much.” That was the worst part, what had made her stay away from Matt. “He told me he was Daredevil, eventually, but before that he just lied and lied, he kept making up bullshit when I asked him about his wounds, about his life, about everything...and I was her friend, but he just lied and lied...”

“Look, I didn’t know him, hell I don’t even like him, but I know he didn’t want to hurt you.” Frank interrupted her. “He did all that to protect you, see? He cared, you were her friend, he wanted to keep you out of the shit, so you wouldn’t end up hurt.”

“It felt like he didn’t trust me...” Karen said weakly.

“Nah.” Frank shook his head. “Red was an asshole, you won’t hear otherwise from me, but he hid who he was because he wanted you to be safe.”

“Maybe.”  She conceded. It was better than thinking he had lied because he didn’t trust her. Yes, Frank was probably right. It still hurt.

“Look what happened with me. You got involved. You got hurt. Red wanted to save you that.” Frank shrugged, letting go of her hand. She almost chased it back.

“At least you didn’t lie to me, and it was my choice,” Karen replied. “I wanted to get to the truth.”

“Finding the truth, you care about that, don’t you? It’s the right thing to do for you, so you do it, no matter if that puts you in danger. It was the same with Red, he did what he thought was right even if it put him in danger.”

Well. That made sense. Maybe she was drunk, but who had given The Punisher the right to be that wise?

It was a long, silent moment before Frank talked again.

“I...uh...I actually wanted to apologize for that day in the woods...” Frank shifted awkwardly. “When I...you know... drove my car into yours.”

“Yes, to save me from Schoonover,” Karen replied.

“Yeah, okay, sure I wanted to help you but I’m not lying to you Karen, mostly what I wanted was to kill Schoonover.” Frank looked at her like he thought she might lash out, but she didn’t. She liked he didn’t lie to her. And he had called her Karen, she didn’t recall Frank calling her for her first name before. He didn’t seem to have realized it.

“And my head...you see, it wasn’t quite right back then, wasn’t really there...And I’m sorry I behaved like an ass to you. ” Frank was frowning and he seemed half lost in thought. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d have killed him anyway, didn’t care you asked me not to.”

Ouch. Well, she has asked for honesty, she couldn’t complain.

“But I just left you there alone in the woods with a fucked up arm and a totaled car and I’m sorry about it. Should have helped you...” Frank apologized again, more than what Karen was expecting.

“Neither the car nor my arm were that bad.” Karen shrugged. “I even managed to drive back towards the city for a while before the police stopped to help me. I’m badass like that.” She joked.

“Yes, Miss. Page, yes you are.” Frank smiled at her, and Karen couldn’t help but smile back. “And uh...just wanted to tell you that I checked on you, later that night...to see that you were okay, it’s not an excuse but well...” Frank trailed off and Karen just nodded, allowing him to drop the matter.

“You told me I was dead for you if I killed Schoonover,” Frank said after a moment of silence. “I killed him.”

“Lucky for you, I don’t seem to be good at keeping certain promises,” Karen replied, half joking.

“Not liyng, I’m glad about it ma’am.” There it was again, that smile that made her smile back.

“And you told me to stay away .” Karen reminded him. “Yet you are here.”

“I stand by it, ma’am. You should stay away from me, it’s dangerous.” Frank replied. Karen had just wanted to tease but he seemed very serious. “I just wanted to check on you, see how you were holding up.”

“And I’m grateful for that, Frank,” Karen said softly, feeling shy for some reason. “You don’t...don’t have to stay away from me, don’t take that decision for me like Matt did.”

“It’s for the best. I still have things to do, people I’m going to kill.” It didn’t shock her. It just pissed her off that people kept going out of her life as if it were the best for her without actually asking her. “But I’m almost done, almost finished. Almost all of them are dead.”

Karen didn’t know why was he sharing that with her. Another surprise. But it felt right. It felt like they were that close, somehow, despite not knowing each other for that long.

“Good.” She nodded. “What are you going to do, when it’s done?”

Frank shrugged. “I don’t know...hadn’t planned that long...” He seemed very vulnerable like that, and this time it was Karen who reached out to take his hand.

“I know it’s not my place to say...” Karen began softly. “But I think you should try and keep going, try having a life outside The Punisher...”

Frank just hummed, gaze on their joined hands.

Eventually, he pulled away.

“I have to go, ma’am.” He said as he got up from her sofa and headed to the door.

“Yeah, sure...” Karen nodded, but if she was honest with herself, she didn’t want him to go.

“Thank you for the drink,” Frank said, opening the door and stepping outside.

“No, thank you. For coming to check on me. For listening.” Karen realized she was about to cry again, but she stopped herself in time.

“My pleasure.” Frank gave her a brief smile and there she was, smiling back again. “Take care, ma’am.”

“You too.”

Frank nodded and then he was gone, leaving Karen to wonder when would she saw him again if she would.

**Author's Note:**

> And as we know, yes she meets him again in The Punisher show and we have sweet, lovely, great kastle scenes.
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it, please let me know!


End file.
